In a Daze
by LonelySoul828
Summary: Kaoru contemplates possibly the biggest decision in her life. Which happens to include a redheaded idiot. KK


**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Rurouni Kenshin.

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**In A Daze**

She rubbed her temples when she felt the inevitable pound of a migraine coming on.

Kaoru shot a glare at the textbook she was desperately trying to read. Though, being as smart as she was, the raven haired beauty knew that her efforts were in vain as soon as started. Who needed to know such a boring subject like economics anyway?

She let out a sigh and stood up from her couch, dropping the hefty text book on the small coffee table situated in front of her. She clumsily made her way through her small apartment; her destination being the even smaller kitchen located only a few feet away from the living area.

Upon arriving, she went straight towards her medicine cabinet. Opening it, she retrieved a small bottle of aspirin. Popping the lid, she poured out two small tablets. She grabbed a cup from the adjacent cabinet and poured water into it. After downing the pills and the rest of the water, she made her way back towards her comfy couch and collapsed. She let out a sigh of content upon contact.

Why was it so hard for her to study anyway? Usually, she wouldn't have a problem putting herself into her studies. It didn't matter that it was boring; she could always distinguish between what was important and what wasn't. And right now, college should be of the utmost importance in her life. Especially since this was her final year.

A twinge of unease settled in the pit of her stomach at the thought and a vision of red and violet entered her mind. Kaoru sighed at where her thoughts were leading to, yet again.

Red hair, and violet eyes.

She unconsciously shivered when a vision of flaming golden eyes entered her thoughts. _Such a fiery passion within him._

That man had weaseled his way into her life. It seemed as if any resistance on her part was futile.

00**Flashback**00

"_Hello there, miss." A smiling redhead loomed over her as Kaoru sat in the library doing homework. It was just the beginning of her freshmen year, and she was diligently working, trying to get into the strenuous habit of working hard for her college experience._

_She was annoyed at the distraction, and looked up to meet her visitor's eyes. A clash of violet and gold met her stunning blue. The first thing she noticed about him was his amazing features. Long red hair, beautiful violet/ gold eyes, and a gorgeous face. There were no flaws that she could see, save the odd X shaped scar carved into his cheek. Though, she came to the conclusion that the marking only added to his attractiveness. _

_A blush rose to her cheeks when Kaoru realized she was staring. However the redness in her cheeks quickly changed from embarrassment to anger when she noticed her mysterious visitor smirk. Her annoyance rose, and defiance shone in her blue eyes._

"_And you are…?"_

_The smirk remained as he leaned on the desk and folded his arms in a sexy manner. "Kenshin. Himura Kenshin."_

"_Well, Himura-san, if you don't mind. I'm kind of busy here." She tried to resume working, but she could feel is strong presence still there. She looked up, not surprised to still see him standing there. "Excuse me, do you have a problem? Because if not, I'd like you to leave before I proceed to shove this book up your ass. I can assure you it won't be pleasant." She smiled sweetly at him. Relishing in the satisfaction of seeing his smirk slip. However, she swore she saw a twinkle of amusement shine in his eyes as well._

"_Well then," he straightened up, "I suppose I'll be on my way then. But rest assured, Miss Kaoru, you will definitely see more of me." And with that, he walked away, leaving a puzzled and dazed Kaoru behind, with one thought in mind._

How the hell did he know my name???

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"_Go out with me." Damn, he was persistent. The redhead trailed her as she walked through the college campus, trying to get some fresh air._

"_No," was her curt reply._

"_Please?" he attempted again._

"_No." _

"_Please go out with me."_

"_No." Her response seemed to be automatic now, he noticed. She was barely paying attention to the conversation at hand, and was instead, reading over something in a large book._

_He wasn't sure when they had stopped and she had sat down, but now that knew he had a slight advantage, he would win._

"_Don't go out with me then." He said with a smirk._

"_No."_

_He let that settle in for awhile, waiting for the inevitable. Suddenly, her blue eyes widened, and she snapped her gaze towards his triumphant grin._

"_Great. I'll pick you up Friday night, at 7 sharp." He left no room for a reply, and he promptly left._

_Kaoru sat there dumbfounded. This was twice that he left her in wonder. Just how the hell did he manage to do that?_

_0000000000000_

_She felt extremely awkward. She wasn't sure what to do. The date, to her dismay, was nothing short of amazing; and she had a wonderful time with Kenshin. But now, they were walking up the stairs, to her apartment door. The date was just about to end; Kenshin was courteously walking Kaoru to her door._

_They finally stopped at her door. She turned around to bid him goodnight; figuring it would be easier to just cut the goodbye short, and slip in quickly. Though, she was highly surprised when his lips crashed into hers. She mentally cursed her traitorous body when she felt herself responding to the kiss._

_She leaned into the door, and his arms lifted to both sides of her head to keep her there. Her hands drifted across his, what she could feel, of a very finely toned chest. She reveled in the feeling of his muscles as they contracted in response to her light touch. Kaoru finally settled for resting one arm around his neck and entangling her other hand in his silky hair. _

_His lips ravished hers in a tantalizing way before he stepped back, though still keeping his arms in place. Her limbs also refused to stray from his body._

_Kenshin looked into her dazed eyes and smiled lovingly at her. She smiled back, loving the look she had never seen on his hansom face until now._

_He looked into her eyes, "I enjoyed our date, Kaoru."_

_She smiled, "Me too, Kenshin."_

_And with that, he pecked her on her lips, and turned to leave._

_She was left behind in a daze, yet again. She wondered if he would ever cease to have this effect on her._

00**End Flashback**00

Her migraine began to fade as she relaxed. She stretched out on her small couch, attempting to get into a more comfortable position before her thoughts ran away from her again.

Kaoru leaned back, letting her hair sprawl out around her. It was getting a bit long. But she couldn't help but think of how much Kenshin loved her hair, and she couldn't bring herself to really hack it off; only light trims once in a while. She shivered as she imagined Kenshin running his hands through her hair.

00**Flashback**00

_Her eyes were drifting closed. Kaoru's head rested in Kenshin's lap. She was exhausted. He had an ultimately crazy idea to spar with her. Needless to say, she lost. But not after countless times of getting up and trying again._

_She was almost too mad to go near him, but he was stronger than her. After getting her on the couch, they practically just gravitated into their current position. Kenshin then stopped her from moving when his hands started massaging her scalp. She moaned. It felt so good! Though, she could almost feel his smirk._

_His fingers unknowingly fought back an oncoming headache, and for that she was grateful. He continued to run his fingers through her hair. "I love your hair," he murmured. _

_She could only smile at him before she fell into a deep sleep._

00**End Flashback**00

She smiled at the memory; at all of the lovely memories she shared with Kenshin.

She then frowned. Their whole relationship wasn't all about smiles.

00**Flashback**00

"_Hey little girl. Wanna have some fun?" A few drunken men stumbled over to her. She was on her way home from work. Kaoru worked overtime tonight, taking advantage of every opportunity to make some extra cash._

_She froze at the sound of his voice. Without a second thought, she started running, hoping they were too drunk to catch up to her. _

_However, fate was not on her side tonight. Her messenger bag full of books was bumping against her legs. She anxiously tried to readjust the bag so she could run easier. But her shift in attention from where she was going to her bag turned out to be a fatal mistake. She tripped on the curb, and not having time to put out her arms to break her fall, she fell head first into the pavement. _

_She figured the fall wasn't too bad, seeing as she was still conscious. But her head throbbed without mercy, and she could feel warm sticky liquid oozing down her forehead. Her eyesight was blurred, and she literally saw stars upon impact. _

_A deep laughter reverberated through her mind, making her shudder. She attempted to get up, but that resulted in a very painful shoot of pain in her head, and the follow-up dizziness. She nearly cried when she realized she was way too vulnerable, and she wouldn't be able to get out of the situation._

_Kaoru felt someone pick her up and unceremoniously throw her over his shoulder. It was extremely painful for her head, but she found that she couldn't fight back. She didn't know where her captor was taking her, she was fighting to stay conscious. She heard the drunken laughter, and the stench of alcohol and sweat invaded her senses. _

_Suddenly, she was slammed against a wall, making her cry out in pain. She vaguely felt hands all over her body. Kaoru felt the need to throw up, but found she couldn't do so, since she was drifting in and out of consciousness._

_All of a sudden, a scream was heard, making her ears ring. All she remembered was a flash of dark read, illuminated by the scarce moonlight, and glowing amber eyes, before she passed out from the pain and blood loss._

_--_

_She woke up in significantly less pain, to the sound of an incessant beeping. She found it was a heart monitor. _

_A mass of read was strewn about the edge of the bed. A soft breathing accompanied the head of hair. She put her hand atop his, squeezing it gently. "Kenshin..." she whispered.  
_

_Kenshin awoke suddenly, his guilty violet eyes landing on hers. _

"_Kaoru, I'm so sorry. I should've been there earlier. I'm sorry." He looked down, avoiding her gaze._

_She lifted his head and gazed into his eyes. "You saved me, Kenshin. Thank you." She smiled at him._

_His expression seemed to lighten slightly and he took her hand and placed a soft kiss across her knuckles. He was so scared. So scared of losing her. "I love you…" he murmured. He couldn't look in her eyes. He was afraid of her rejecting him, because he didn't get to her before she got hurt. He heard her small gasp, and a large lump formed at the base of his throat._

_She whispered it, and he wouldn't have heard it if he didn't have such acute hearing. _

"_I love you too."_

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_He told her. He finally told her about the origin of his scar. Of the life that he took without honor. He expected her to turn away from him. To look at him with disgust and horror and run away, just like all the others._

_But she didn't._

_She put her arms around him, and told him something that surprised him greatly. "I don't care about your past, Kenshin. I love you for you."_

_And when that day of the year came, Kenshin did not spend it alone._

_He kneeled before her grave with a bouquet of lilies. "Her favorite," he said. A single tear escaped his eye, and Kaoru wrapped her arms around him again._

_He thanked Kaoru silently for the comfort, and prayed silently to Tomoe for forgiveness, like he did every year._

00**End Flashback**00

She rolled over, and sighed at the thought of Kenshin being in pain because of something that wasn't his fault. He was an amazing man. She blushed when she thought of happier moments they shared.

00**Flashback**00

_The sun peaked at them through the open curtains, and stirred the two awake from their deep slumber. Kaoru, not thinking immediately of her current position, just continued to attempt to get up and start her normal routine. That is, until a muscular arm around her waist tightened his hold on her, keeping Kaoru firmly in place. Which, she realized with slight shock, was right up against a toned chest. She felt the vibrations of his deep chuckle, and all the memories flooded back to her, causing a cute pink blush to appear on her cheeks. Kaoru turned over to meet loving violet eyes. The blush remained, and even turned a few shades deeper when she realized they were both completely nude._

_Kenshin chuckled again at her embarrassment. He silenced any replies from her with his lips, afterwards. They shared a light, loving morning kiss. _

_Kaoru supposed their first morning together was going well._

_0000000000000_

"_Happy thee year anniversary, Kenshin!" She gave him a quick peck on the lips._

_He smiled his gorgeous smile, and gave her that rare loving look. The one, she thought, he reserved for her and only her. "Happy three year anniversary, Koishii." _

_They decided to have dinner at Kenshin's apartment. So they could have private time together with no distractions. _

_After they ate, Kenshin slid over a somewhat thin rectangular-shaped, wrapped gift._

_Kaoru gave him an annoyed look, "Kenshin. We agreed on no presents this year because of our money crunch."_

_The redhead smirked. "I lied," he said simply. He urged her to open the gift. After seeing the excitement in his eyes, she grudgingly picked it up._

_Carefully, she unwrapped the silver paper. A velvet rectangular box was hidden underneath. She bit her lip, knowing that it was some type of expensive jewelry._

_Ever so slowly, she lifted the lid, nearly afraid to find what was inside._

_She gasped. It was a sapphire pendant. It was set in white gold, with two small diamonds on each side. The pendant was simple. Kenshin knew that Kaoru didn't like gaudy jewelry. He had spent hours and hours going through every necklace at every jewelry store he could find before he found the right one. He would not settle on anything less than perfect._

"_Kenshin," she breathed out. She was speechless. It was so perfect. "Thank you…"_

_He smiled in satisfaction, and helped her put it on. The sapphire contrasted beautifully with her ivory skin. And the color brought out her eyes stunningly._

_He leaned over and kissed her thoroughly, leaving Kaoru dazed. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. _

00**End Flashback**00

Kaoru smiled. She just couldn't get enough of him. Kenshin was always doing things for her, and sacrificing his time and energy to make her happy. He was just perfect.

She giggled. She always thought that a perfect guy was just make believe. Obviously, she was very, very wrong. She loved Kenshin with all her heart.

But he was so confusing at times. She sighed and looked over to the blue velvet box sitting innocently on her table. She took it, and opened to reveal what was inside, making that about the millionth time that day.

00**Flashback**00

_She woke up to loud knocking on her door. Angry and frustrated, she rolled out of bed and made her way to the door, ready to give the person on the other end a piece of her mind. _

_She threw it open, and was about to yell when she noticed who exactly it was on the other side._

_It was Kenshin, looking amazing as ever. But something was off. He seemed jumpy, and extremely anxious. Kaoru was very confused._

"_What's wrong, Kenshin?" She stepped forward to embrace him, but he stepped back, avoiding it. This action slightly hurt her, but she wanted to hear what he had to say first._

_Without warning, he whipped out a blue velvet box, and kneeled down on one knee. Kaoru was stunned speechless. Kenshin took that time to begin talking._

"_Kamiya Kaoru," he began, "Let me just start this out by saying that I love you so much." He took a few deep breaths. "I was actually planning to do this at a later date, but I just couldn't wait anymore. Kaoru, you are the light of my life. You are the only one I can truly depend on. You have healed all of my wounds. Internally and externally. You comforted me in my times of need. And you understood. And never did you judge me on my past. And that means a lot to me, Kaoru. It really does." He paused, than let out a mirthless chuckle. "Damn, I had actually planned out what I was going to say. Word for word, sentence for sentence. But, you render me speechless. Just the sight of you dulls down all of my inner fears, and you make me forget all the horrors in life. You are the most precious person in my life Kaoru. So, what I'm trying to say is…" He opened to the box to reveal a gorgeous ring. It was a simple cut again. White gold. A large diamond sat pristinely on the band, in all its sparkling glory. It was framed by two smaller sapphires, on each side of the diamond. It sparkled in the light, and the sight and speech she had just received sent tears to her eyes._

"_Will you marry me?"_

_She was momentarily stunned. She was shocked by the speech, the ring, and just him all together. In a daze. He always left her in a daze, and wondering what their next interaction would be like. _

_Kenshin, on the other hand, took her silence as a shocked and slightly panicked state (which was pretty damn close, actually). He stood from his position, and closed the box. He handed the velvet box to the silent Kaoru and said a few words before departing. _

"_Please think about it."_

_He left her in a daze again._

00**End Flashback**00

That was hours ago, she realized. She was still in shock. But now she knew her answer.

After all of those memories and thoughts about Kenshin, it all led her to the same conclusion. She loved him.

She loved him with a bright burning passion that even rendered _her_ speechless. Kenshin was an amazing man that would always take care of her. And he would always stay with her, she knew that now.

All her life, she had been abandoned. But she knew deep down that Kenshin would never do such a thing to her. He loved her too much, and she knew that. She loved him too. A lot.

_What the hell am I waiting around for, then???_

She jumped off her couch, and grabbed her shoes, totally forgetting about her purse and cell phone. Instead, she rushed out the door. Once she reached the outside of her apartment building, she began to sprint. Kenshin's building was a mere 5 minute walk away. Sprinting, she got there in less than half the time.

She opened the door, and ran for the elevator. Once inside, she began to catch her breath, waiting impatiently for the elevator to get to the right floor. At that moment, she realized that she was still holding the velvet box. A ding brought her out of her thoughts, and she ran, again, to Kenshin's door. Forgetting about the late time, or the possibility of disturbing him, she banged loudly on the door. She didn't stop her incessant knocking until the door swung open.

Her gaze landed on stunned violet eyes, and she immediately launched herself at him.

"Of course! Of course I'll marry you, you red-headed idiot!" He returned her embrace tightly and eagerly; even spinning her around a few times, both of them laughing.

He set her down in front of him, "Really?" he questioned with hope in his eyes.

She brought up the box holding the ring, "If you will do me the honor."

He took the box, got down on one knee and asked the question once again, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Will you marry me?"

There was no shock just time. Just pure, happy bliss, flowing through her like a ravenous waterfall.

"Yes." And with that, he slipped the ring around her finger. He stood and immediately they kissed. Their kiss held so much passion and love. They poured their souls out to each other, knowing that it was safe. He pulled back, looking into her eyes.

She smiled at him, and she just knew.

He would never cease to leave her in a daze.

And how she loved the feeling.

So she kissed him again to seal the deal.

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**A/N:** umm… Wow. It's really late, and I'm super tired. But I can't believe I wrote this much!!

Well, this was pretty much a bunch of randomness. I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Please review! Review! Review!

Any compliments, flames, constructive criticism…etc. accepted.

Thanks for reading,

Lonely Soul


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